In Fragments
by AshleighAishwarya
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS! My own little take on the final cutscene of "Midnight". The Chief refuses to believe that his long-time companion is saying her goodbyes.


**Hello, everyone! I'm here with a new Halo one-shot!  
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**So after the release of Halo 4, I promised myself not to spoil the story until I had played the game myself. Unfortunately, I never listen to myself. So after a while, I read and watched everything... and cried like a little baby ;_;  
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**But I promised to give my own little take on the goodbye scene only after I myself completed Halo 4. I finally did, so here it is! :)  
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"How…?"

"Oh, _I'm_ the strangest thing you've seen all day? Thanks."

Heh. Always with the witty comments. Honestly, her life-sized appearance doesn't matter to me now. She's here, I'm here. It's time to leave together. But how do we get out of this? We're in the middle of space. Bits and pieces of the Didact's ship and the Composer are floating aimlessly around us, but we're surrounded by… hard light. "So how do we get out of here?" I glanced around, inspecting the hard light. It was in a dark shade of blue, strangely close to Cortana's avatar color.

I didn't get an immediate reply. So when I didn't, I turned my head back to her. She was staring at her feet and looked like she was trying to conceal a sob. When she looked back up at me, she had a smile. But not a genuine one: a sad one. "I'm not coming with you this time."

What? What was _that _supposed to mean? She's here, isn't she? "What? What are you talking about?"

That was when she glanced below us, pointing at the debris. "Most of me is down there," She said, turning her head back to me. "I only held enough back to get you off the ship." She dejectedly told me.

Most of her was down there? What-… No. No, no. No, that couldn't be. "That's not-!" I didn't know how to react to this. It was so unreal. "We go together!" I argued.

She let go of a very small laugh, and smiled again. "Look around you. It's already done."

I took another look at the hard light that encircled us. She held enough back to get me off the ship… No. She… she created a circle of hard light to prevent the blast from killing me, but… she had been… _destroyed_ in it… But, she's here! In front of me!

… But as a life-sized hologram.

"No," I'm refusing to believe this! I made a promise to Johnson; I was never going to let her go. I promised to come back for her when she was in the Gravemind's clutches, so I am _not _leaving her here now! "I am _not _leaving you here-"

"John…" She knew I was in denial. She reached out to me and placed a hand on my chest. The connection caused a faint blue glow. "I've waited so long to do that," She admitted desolately, looking up at me. That was not only comfort me, but also herself.

As much as I wanted to look at her straight in the eyes, I couldn't. I couldn't believe she was doing this to me. But I tried. I tried so hard. I guess my luck finally ran out. "It was my job to take care of you," I told her. I made her so many promises during this time; _none _of which I was able to keep.

"We were supposed to take care of each other, silly," She said with a little laugh, correcting me. _How _was she able to carry that little smile? "And we did. We _always… _did."

No. It was _she _who took care of me. How many times has her quick thinking saved me? No matter what I did for her, none of it could make up for all the times she helped me. "Cortana…" I'm pretty sure I was losing my heart somewhere along the way. What was I supposed to say? That it's okay? How many times must I have said that to her to console her about her pending rampancy during this journey? Should I say that I have a plan? That I know it doesn't have to end this way? "Please…" That was all I could say. I had nothing left in me.

"I'm so sorry," A quick hand trailed up my chest and past my visor. I glanced up and Cortana was slowly backing away from me. As she did that, my heart was racing. _No. _Her hand then slid down my right arm and was in mine. For that split second, I gripped it tightly, trying one last time to hopelessly hang onto my friend. She acknowledged that with yet, another smile. "I really am." But as she continued to back away from me, she let go of my hand.

"Wait!" I reached out to her. Just _one _more attempt to stop her and tell me that this was not real.

But no. She continued to back up with her smile. When she was much closer to the border of that hard light, she almost whispered to me, "Welcome home, John…" And then she faded with the hard light.

I'm just… standing here. As if something got a hold of my movements. She was… gone. She said her goodbye, but it doesn't make it any better. I had lost so many people before, but somehow, I got used to it. I didn't complain then, but I'm complaining now: why Cortana? Why my long-time companion? What was I going to say to Halsey if I ever see her again?

And even in the end of it all, it was to save me. She had done it again. I could never guess what she was thinking, anyways.

I wish I could call out for her, but I knew I was only going to be disappointed further. I might as well save myself the pain. But just like the Didact's ship and the Composer, my entire world was in the exact same condition: broken and in fragments.

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**A/N: I gotta hand to it Cortana for keeping it together. "Strike the Slate" by Shaman's Harvest definitely helped :)  
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**Hope you like it! I have a few Halo fics lined up, available on my profile if you'd like to drop by!  
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**Much love,  
Ash ;)  
**


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